What it is: A physicist's book-length tour of the South Pole's IceCube Observatory, which contains a telescope that searches not for stars but for high-energy neutrinos -- sub-atomic particles that originate in places like supernovae and black holes.

Try this next: Interested in cutting-edge astronomy? You might like Govert Schilling's Ripples in Spacetime: Einstein, Gravitational Waves, and the Future of Astronomy.

What it's about: The "hidden army" that protects us from disease, better known as the human immune system.

Did you know? One kiss can transfer 80 million bacteria. (Happy Valentine's Day!)

Why you should read it: lt's flu season, the perfect time todive into this comprehensive survey of the immune system, which presents serious science in an entertaining style that should appeal to Mary Roach fans.

What it is: In brief but informative vignettes, biographer and science writer Brenda Maddox profiles the Victorian geologists who revolutionized our understanding of Earth's history and human evolution.

Contains: biographical portraits of notable figures such as Charles Lyell, Mary Anning, James Hutton, and Louis Agassiz, as well as historical context that puts their discoveries in perspective.

Starring: German physician Robert Koch, who isolated the bacterium responsible for tuberculosis, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who applied his own medical training (and innate skepticism) to investigating the "cure" Koch subsequently claimed to have found.

For fans of: Medical histories with a dash of mystery, such as Steven Johnson's The Ghost Map, about a deadly cholera epidemic in Victorian London.

What it's about: the nascent field of quantum biology, which applies principles of quantum mechanics to biological processes, ranging from our sense of smell (olfaction) to bird migration, which relies on the ability to sense the Earth's magnetic field (magnetoreception).

Read it for: the way the authors -- a theoretical physicist and a molecular biologist -- make a complex and challenging topic accessible to non-scientists.

What it is: An engaging blend of science writing and memoir, written by a geologist and a biologist as they explore the roles played by complex microbial communities in everything from agriculture to human health.

Why you might like it: From vivid descriptions of the authors' quest to turn their barren Seattle backyard into a lush garden to reflections on Biklé's cancer diagnosis, The Hidden Half of Nature illuminates the intimate connections between humans and their environment.

Introducing: the microbiome, a complex ecosystem of commensal, symbiotic, and pathogenic microscopic organisms living in and on our bodies.

Why you should read it: Science writer Ed Yong's accessible field guide to microorganisms reveals that they're more than just germs to be wiped out -- they form communities that help our bodies function, making them a promising subject for medical research.

You might also like: Rob Dunn's The Wildlife of Our Bodies or Rodney Dietert's The Human Super-Organism.